Album Review: Unkle – ‘War Stories’

Unkle is a duo from across the pond (British, for those that don’t get that reference) founded by James Lavelle. Lavelle also founded the Mo’ Wax, a noted UK label. The group currently consists of Lavelle (after going through a series of personnel changes) and Richard File.

‘War Stories’ is the third album of Unkle. I’m not entirely sure what to call these fellows. I don’t get the impression that they’re DJs, but they do appear to mix music along with contributions of musical guest stars on their albums.

Though I believe the fellows have DJ-ed. The duo has a roster of quest artists on the album, including Josh Homme (“Restless”), Gavin Clark (“Keys to the Kingdom” and “Broken”), Ian Astbury (“Burn my Shadow” and “When Things Explode”), Duke Spirit (“Mayday”), Autolux (“Persons & Machinery”), and 3D (“Twilight”). They also have some original contributions that don’t really feature any contributors, including “Chemistry,” “Hold my Hand,” and three others. Keep listening after the fourteenth track and you’ll find a bonus song.

I thought that the sound was interesting and had some good moments, but the mixing tends to have a similar sound to them (as my other reviews of these types of albums attest to). However, the inclusion of the guest stars tended to stand out more than the “mixed” stuff. I still found it interesting and worth a listen.